URGENT, NEED PART ASAP

[The_Kameleon]

1990 Buick Reatta

Okay, all of a sudden, the switch & buttons for my lights (all of them) broke last night when I pushed the headlight button to turn them on.

Does someone have a parts car that they could sell me the whole switch/button assembly from? I need this part ASAP, as the Reatta is my daily driver.

If anyone has any idea how to get this fixed/replaced in another way, I would appreciate it a LOT.

e-mail me ASAP at The_Kameleon@hotmail.com and we can work out a price.

[dpannell]

Try Jim Finn at Jfinn@cpinternet.com. He normally has anything you may need at the most reasonable prices around.
DAve

[The_Kameleon]

well, I ordered the part already, thanks....now I just gotta wait for it to show up within the next two days, until then, I gotta drive my dad's car to my evening class...

[The_Kameleon]

I ordered the part from RockAuto.com a couple days ago, and it arrived today.

I took the car back to the shop I'm taking classes at, and plugged it in. Then I pressed the headlight button in, and the headlight came up and turned on. Pressed it again, and the headlight turned off, and went down.

Then I proceeded to put the dash panel back in place. Upon finishing that, I pressed the headlight button again to test it again. Nothing happened.

The fog lamps and the driving lights WILL turn on, but the headlights will not go up, nor will they turn on (even when cranked up already).

I replaced all the fuses, and checked the relays. Then tried again, to no avail whatsoever.


I'm now regretting buying this car completely. It seems as if right when I get something I like a lot and is useful to me, everything that can go wrong, will go wrong (had to replace transmission seals, engine got destroyed by AAMCO, front wheel hub assemblies became worn & need replacement, my passenger side window is always off the track, there is a leak in the weatherstripping on the passenger side, and now, the headlights will no longer function)

what should I do? could it be something else that's wrong with the car that I'm missing? the switch lights up as it should and the car responds to the headlight button being pressed by lighting the "Lights On" message.

Please, respond ASAP, I'm beyond frustrated, and I'm losing my mind trying to get this car back to the way it was when I bought it.

[The_Kameleon]

No one? I guess that the wires could be frayed somewhere, or something may have come loose.

The switch seems to be functioning fine, but I don't want to take it apart, in case I want to return it.

[Ronnie]

Begin by turning on the headlights. Using a wiring diagram, start at the headlight and trace all the way back to the fuse (or circuit breaker) to see where you are loosing continuity in the high amperage circuit. If you come to a relay that has 12 volts coming to it and nothing coming out, then troubleshoot that relay for problems in the "control circuit" and test for a bad relay.

Normally with high amperage devices like the headlights, switches and their wiring (control circuit) only activate relays or other control devices. When the contacts in the relays are closed, they complete the high amperage circuit (larger gauge wires) to carry the high amperage load from the fused power source to the headlights.

Hope this will help with your problem.

[The_Kameleon]

Well, I checked the relays, and apparently, the relay for the hi-low beam headlights was burnt and was recieving from the switch, but not sending. I replaced the relay, and the headlights worked, but only for a couple of hours.

They just stopped working again. I might just end up taking it to a dealership and getting it fixed for good, I'm sick of this crap that keeps happening.

I'm gonna check some things later on today in one of my automotive classes, and if I can't find out the problem to fix it, I'm most likely taking it to a dealership.